Letter: Pro-hotel argument is seriously flawed

The East Amherst resident who is in favor of the controversial six-story Hyatt hotel in Snyder shows serious flaws in her argument.

She states that it is impossible for the developer to destroy wildlife habitat to build this hotel because there presently is no green space along that part of Main Street to destroy. The proposed hotel is not being built on Main Street but on a parcel well behind Main that is not easily visible from the road. This lot is adjacent to Mike’s Pond, a privately owned two-acre pond, which has provided a natural sanctuary for a wonderful array of wildlife not usually found in a suburban setting such as Snyder.

The developer has bulldozed and denuded the land, killing or driving away these creatures from this once living green space. Contrary to what the letter writer says, there are not “oodles of open space areas … for all the wildlife in the world.” Human encroachment into wildlife habitat is a global problem of grave concern. Opposing this hotel is an example of thinking globally but acting locally to preserve our natural treasures.

Another serious error is that a six-story Hyatt “will provide great jobs.” Hyatt is not an upscale brand but rather the chain that has been selected as the worst hotel employer in America and has been boycotted by the AFL-CIO, NFL Players Association and other unions for its long record of employee abuses and unfair practices.

We are not “a small group,” as the writer contends, but an assemblage of hundreds of Snyder residents who are angry that our town boards grant this developer every advantage to shoehorn a six-story hotel into a small, inappropriate location with the blessings of many variances and industrial development agency money.

Unabated development may bring a 77-foot hotel into the writer’s East Amherst back yard next year.